How Much Do Video Games Cost to Make? 5 Real Examples! [2019]

[@AskGamedev]

Want to see more video game production budgets? Check out our video where we compare indie and AAA game production budgets: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKWWdYGjq710f8U

[@ahmedshaikh7713]

R u a developer? U can build game for me?

[@Adkinsy85]

I want to see how to promote game

[@venomtang]

F--k your Ai voice video

[@wavemode69]

"So far I have made $0 from the game. That may look like a high number, but consider that it took four years to make - that works out to approximately $0/year." lmao i'm dead

[@watchermagic5325]

Timestamp? :D

[@wavemode69]

@@watchermagic5325 8:39

[@neixene7742]

@@wavemode69 Still 0$ ?

[@CaiC]

It's awesome that he has a sense of humor about it

[@ramidhouib1422]

i think now sold more then 20k copies wich is 400k

[@ihp-minecraft7991]

This vid: you need money to make a game Some random 0 budget dev: hold my beer

[@vanniyo8988]

Stardew valley was made by a college kid who had a hard time finding work. Millions of copies sold

[@enkiimuto1041]

Dust was made by one guy too until voice acting came along, I wish we had numbers for that.

[@Wakka9000]

Luck

[@Mijdax]

You have to do it with passion, and keep standing up and trying again if you fall. Falling down are the experiences you need in order to improve.

[@MrAsyo1]

This isn't wholesome, this is a capitalism dystopian happening

[@koakumasen8112]

He got lucky with a publisher who liked his game and gave their full support to him. He catered to a wide and supportive game genre audience. And for all of his time working he was mostly alone, struggling with impostor syndrome and relying on his girlfriend to fund his game development efforts. It's definitely a grim fantasy with a happy ending, still a cautionary tale if I've ever heard of one.

[@bip901]

11:09 The devs' reply is hilarious!

[@Type000]

Fight world war 1

[@sinify6676]

The audacity to say "Let's dive right in" after burning 75 seconds on an 'intro' comprised of reiterating that you were ABOUT to tell us something lmao

[@nOT_sURE08]

They even took the time to animate text for it.

[@themultiverse5447]

On top of the fact that we already knew that channel name, and title of the video.

[@THE16THPHANTOM]

we are lucky he puts the annoying "subscribe, youtube deleted 100 subscribers" at the beginning where you can just preemptively skip it. other youtubers put the nagging somewhere in the middle, different locations. and its cancer. 10 minute video and half of it is people nagging you to subscribe even when you are subscribed, i just gave and i dont subscribe to anyone anymore.

[@Rexodiak]

@@SpenserRoger don't cut yourself with that edge

[@anancee6342]

This is probably one of the most important videos you have done, as it can easily be shock to find out how much making a game can cost you.

[@PHeMoX]

...and it's still talking about nothing but outliers. The video is in no way very accurate in its presentation. Hugely inflated numbers and a way too optimistic view on things. Not to mention how $300.000+ budgets aren't exactly 'indie game' grade budgets. And yes, I'm well aware making games isn't cheap. Thing is, most indies invest their own time and value in them, at a fraction of triple A budgets. Indie devs are not 'small triple A devs'. Heck most truly successful indie devs have been releasing small games for years, at fairly moderate profits. The 'idiots' wasting their money on fast cars generally go bankrupt and fail longterm, despite any hit games.

[@ejnyakoon4896]

Wow. Indie game design sounds like a challenge. I'll take it

[@mansoor6678]

you might regret it though

[@ejnyakoon4896]

@@mansoor6678 I'm open to any challenge that comes my way

[@DanielP533Scripts]

EJ Nyakoon Noob

[@DanielP533Scripts]

David Lad Learn what noob is.. Saying something is hard and he might regret it or saying he is a beginner at this isn’t rude

[@CubeWorksProjet]

I believe you can do this. Good luck

[@metushelach8]

It's important to remember that a multi million dollar game can fail financially (see "Duke Nukem Forever" and "Superman" for the N64 for example), while 50,000$ indi games can make millions (see "Undertale" and "Minecraft"). So to all indies out there (like me) that don't have this 6 - 7 digit budget - don't be discouraged, people were able to do alot with 5 digit budegts as well.

[@youneskasdi]

Small Indie games dont really cost anything except time and effort you are willing to put into, and the game would look greater the more time and effort you put into, no need for any sort of budget unless you are too lazy to make your own art or search for your own sounds/musics and actually have to pay someone else to make them for you

[@minibeastgamestudios6227]

This is a really insightful video, with excellent production value! And thank you for featuring Must Dash Amigos as Community Member of the Week - really awesome of you :)

[@AskGamedev]

It's our pleasure! We love local multiplayer games.

[@AskGamedev]

Thanks for watching! For More Ask Gamedev, watch: *How to Plan Your Game Development Project* kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2jZi3mfe7GqY9k

[@annabeth3904]

@ask gamedev I'm actually pretty young and just about to start my 7th grade year and I already have my eyes set on becoming a game designer though I have no experience or idea on how it works I would love to start learning how to take steps as a game designer

[@skjoldgames]

Otaku Gurl I would recommend taking some classes in your spare time. Do you want to do the art and visuals of game design, or the code and mechanics?

[@pedrobrasil892]

Where are the discord link?

[@AskGamedev]

@@pedrobrasil892 Here's the invite link: discord.gg/RuhjHzZ

[@jordanheaton4539]

@@pedrobrasil892 discord.gg/UWvA6cE

[@doingtime20]

Brigador's argument on Steam about why their game costs 20 dollars is is wrong, and the gamers critizing them are right, let me explain. Imagine that I decide out of my own volition to cook a great donut, it takes me a month to create it and then I decide to charge 2,000 dollars for it. People interested are willing to pay me 2 dollars, maybe 4, but I argue them that they should pay 2,000 dollars since it took me 1 month to make it. See how it doesn't make much sense? Brigador assumes their resulting product value is directly proportional to the time they spent producing it, but unfortunately this is not true. It's just the nature of creative endeavors that things are not that straightforward. An important thing on this matter is that they decided to create their engine, which is a questionable decision given how good commercial engines are. That decision obviously cost them a lot of time and money, and if we assume it was indeed the wrong decision then why do the buyers have to carry the burden of it? The bottom line is your product costs what is costs based on market value and what people are willing to pay for it, nothing more. I'm not hating on Brigador though, as an entrepreneur myself I'm just trying to bring some light to the matter.

[@NewHopeGames]

Great video! Not only the financial costs but the costs of all the hidden sacrifices a dev has to make. It's even more for a solo indiedev such as me. It's also examples of why a successful crowd funding campaign can be critical. Sadly I haven't heard of any of these games other then Destiny.

[@thanatosor]

This is why I paused making games alone. The balance of Cost / Quality will always be the hard equation, and more like gambling for Indie to bet on their games.

[@benjaminramsey4695]

This was fascinating, one of the best videos you've done!

[@AskGamedev]

Thats great feedback. We're hoping to make this a series so stay tuned for more.

[@shahabmos5130]

darn it ,my plan for making a game with 2 $ is a little inaccurate.

[@youneskasdi]

wait i was planning on making a game with 0$

[@shahabmos5130]

@@youneskasdi you can have my 2$ now .can buy some paper and write your proposal.

[@eduuklee9453]

you can make games with 0 budget, but you need to be very skilled, it will take many years and you can use only "open sorce" software and ressorces, but make sure there are no hidden license costs :D Many low budget developer choose to distribute their software/games for free on a non comercial basis, like this they can avoid any taxes and license costs. they live of their youtube channel and content creator support websites like patreon :3

[@kristijanoros7208]

@@eduuklee9453 how reliable is that?

[@eduuklee9453]

@@kristijanoros7208 in this times probably more save than most other jobs :0

[@MR3DDev]

Tip from an artist to those planning on making games. STOP saying this "oh that is too expensive I can find someone else who can do it for less" That is something that irritates me from indie game devs, of course not all but I've had many conversations with that phrase included. If you can find someone that will do your art for less don't waste other people's time

[@LeeTGame]

Another great video as always. Now I know how much it cost to make a game. Will keep working on it as paycheck doesn't mean everything. :)

[@MetalHeadsGame]

I don't think I want to know how much it has cost me to make Metal Heads, the game isn't for sale yet, but I imagine that it would be a hell of a lot. I would have a stab in the dark and say about $130k over 2 years, probably around $40k in the last 4 months. Just the lead up to PAX Australia this year, I have been working around 26 hours a week in my day job, some weeks 39 hours, and any days off, I spend about 8-12 hours on the game in preparation. My life right now, consists of my day job and game dev, I'm also in a relationship, and working this much puts a lot of strain on that relationship, it's also very difficult to maintain my health in this period of time, and my body and mind are suffering as a result, and i'm typically a fit and healthy person with a positive outlook, so the cost is far more than just monetary. In the long run though, I do this, because I love it, it is my passion, I love creating, and I love sharing, and ultimately, it is my way out of the endless rut that I've seen so many people get stuck in. Not many people have that opportunity, I do (you do too!), and I'm not going to waste it, even if it is one giant gamble. Don't let anything put you off chasing after that dream, go for it, and give it everything you've got.

[@AskGamedev]

Congrats on your progress to date! Inspiring story for sure

[@tumultuousforce6204]

Yup. Inspired me

[@MetalHeadsGame]

@Mitch Unreal Engine 4 :) almost zero programming done, Ive just been using their visual scripting system called Blueprint.

[@VictorFlores-bx2te]

Wow.. being in the *exact* same spot for a few years now, it was so comforting to read this.. Specially resonating with the piece about how even at the expense of your own health (both physical and mental sometimes) you just don't quit.. that's raw passion right there.. and when you combine that with the fact that it's a gamble that could possibly get you financial freedom, it's just so worth pursuing! Just take care, and make sure you don't mentally burn yourself!

[@jhonythemob]

I fucking love party games and I wish there were more releases on ps4 (afaik there aren't). Let me know if you manage to release it there please

[@DoomCatcher]

If you're game dev studio and having issues with people complaining about your price DON'T logically explain to people why the game is worth that much but instead you should improve your marketing and sales. Think of it like going upto someone you're attracted to and saying you should go out with me because I'll put a lot of effort into the relationship without there being any "spark"

[@drekex6767]

Marketing is only good up to a certain point and even then it’s not guaranteed to work (while costing a pretty penny). There’s free ways to advertise your game, it only goes so far if your luck is bad. The main problem with video games is that you can’t really adjust your game price since the competition sales their games at low prices already. ‘’Unique’’ or ‘’Prenium’’ products can be sold way higher and be justified because nothing like it exists, but it doesn’t work that way with games. Games are one of the most unique products out there but they don’t have that luxury. If your sales are low, you can’t make up for it by raising the price, your sales and reviews will tank. Also, it’s kinda established in the community of gamers as a standart that indie games don’t go often beyond 20$ and triple A titles can go from 80$ or 110$ sometimes.

[@tobyk5091]

The angle you show the articles at looks like VR. I like it

[@RoadRunnerMeep]

Imagine being one of the people working on Shovel Knight and refusing the offer to work for free and walking only to find it was a bad mistake later on. I like the breakdown of the numbers for the card based game. Helps you work things out

[@mina7572]

That argument from the Brigador dev in the steam forum is good for an employee to boss dialogue, not a company to consumer dialogue. Like it or not the consumer ultimately decides the subjective value of the game for what the game itself is, not the time that went into it. If the game's price is higher than that, they won't buy it. Look at Duke Nukem, the amount of time spent on it does not reflect its value. What the dev is actually arguing without realizing it is his wages. Thats what it means to get paid by an employer, you work a certain amount of hours doing whatever it is and that creates value. So the amount you get paid is what you're valued at by your employer. That most certainly is not intrinsically tied to the product value.

[@BAHGaming]

Super interesting. Thanks so much for this insight!

[@skjoldgames]

Very true story. Its easy to overlook the value of time. $12.50/hr is less than minimum wage in Seattle.

[@RafaFiedoMusic]

hm... I would work for this amount of money ;) (Poland)

[@fresch4395]

@@RafaFiedoMusic I would work for minimum wage of germany (8 euro) if I would be living in Thailand or anywhere, where I could live for 100 euros a months. Thing is in the US living is so freaking expensive.

[@skjoldgames]

Rafal Basker rent in Denver, CO is $1500/month. Game Dev alone isn’t a sustainable income, so I own a construction company too. I work 12-16 hrs/day 6-7 days a week between game dev and construction, but it’s worth it to be an entrepreneur.

[@tabrezshaikh867]

Can I have qa testing projects , I will be doing from India

[@MajkaSrajka]

​@@fresch4395 "Thing is in the US living is so freaking expensive. " You just told it to the European lol (Well, Poland is cheap but Europe has more expensive consumer goods than US / higher taxes, housing is biggest variable). Then move to Thailand and make your indie game from Thailand lol, noone is saying no to that. @ Skjöld Game Studio >Move to the super-expensive megacity that has billion dollars in housing markets where politics&property market make love to each other to do project you can do from your mother basement.

[@Marienexify]

I have no money, don't know how to code, and can't draw for shit.... But damnit if I'm not going to learn how to make my first game. If it's a passion you have, even if you're broke AF, you can still do it. For those in the same boat; Welcome, and keep it up! You'll do awesome!

[@alwff]

Marienexify same lmao, i’m watching so many tutorials..

[@coolnamesTV]

One of your best videos, thank you!

[@AskGamedev]

Appreciate your feedback! There is more to come on this topic!

[@ControlAllDa1337]

Each member of that shovel knight team taking 10k a month when you're on a tight budget is lunacy

[@magicmanscott40k]

I would kill for 10k a month for room for more.

[@daniel-zh9nj6yn6y]

10 k is all expenses required for 1 employee/month. But yes, seems a lot.

[@WarWulf778]

First things first, great video! No offense to Stellar Jockeys but but players don't care how hard we work as devs or what we sacrifice in our personal lives to ship a game. What matters to them is the enjoyment value, as it should be.

[@bongobliss5795]

True, it doesnt matter if the chef missed his son's birthday to make the food you are eating, it doesnt matter if he wasnt in the mood to cook ,you paid for that food and its the chef's responsibility to respect the value of your money

[@NeonFraction]

WarWulf778 “As it should be” As a game dev: fuck no. What the hell are you on about? The human cost for a video game is not worth it. That’s just running a shit company.

[@johnnydsnarkangel]

"start that passion project you've been pining to pick up" Always alliterate, for added appeal!

[@ACosmicCastaway]

That arguing about how much a game would cost coming from gamers are completely disgusting, based on actual data from developers. On consumers perspectives, they might have a point, but generally speaking, game consumers know nothing about how much a game actually costs at all. Knowledge is indeed power tho.

[@GinHindew110]

The thing is, consumers have no need to know how mush it costs, they will judge based on the entertainment they can get of a game, then the playtime they can keep themselves invested and then the graphical finishes, So, instead of expecting them to know is more realistic to make a budget and expected earnings based on those factors

[@masterlinktm]

"That arguing about how much a game would cost coming from gamers are completely disgusting" You can't really blame them. Production costs (for anything) are generally kept hidden or grossly exaggerated. Even throughout this entire video, there were no hard, exact numbers on anything. It was all rough estimates. Then you have to add in all the costs that regular employees, let alone customers, never know about. Biggest one being all the government fees and taxes for all sorts of things. Most people have only ever received a paycheck or welfare. They will never know the costs of operating a business. However, how much it costs to produce something doesn't matter to the consumer. They only thing that matters to a consumer is: what is the cost vs value of the product.

[@tobebuilds]

Starts at 0:53

[@svenbtb]

Some of these numbers surprise me, It's wild how much Platform Fees and Taxes take out of a Game's Revenue... a little demotivating, but I guess it just inspires me to want to make a great game to sell more copies to offset it.

[@delightfulsquirtle]

thanks for pointing out bigador. seems like a lot of fun tbh.

[@AskGamedev]

It's a great game! We also had a chance to interview the Brigador devs at PAX. That video will be coming soon to the channel.

[@fabalu7666]

you are doing so well guys!

[@omerfarukbykl6097]

aa türk nasıl gidiyor oyun işin yapıyon mu bişi

[@omerfarukbykl6097]

aşada yorumum var bepensene ya video isteği yazdım,biraz bak bulursun

[@Shenanigans07]

I've been working on a game every Saturday for the past 3 years. Progress is slow, obviously. But at least it hasn't cost anything. Even if I end up making £1, I've still landed me some profit. Kerching.

[@yv5808]

You’re forgetting the opportunity cost. If each mount has 3 weeks minimum than there are 36 Saturdays in a year. So while you have been spending 108 days developing that game, couldn’t you have done something a bit more profitable (that’s why i stick to web development. Sure if you prefer freelancing there isn’t going to be much cash at first, but if you get a good reputation, it can get reasonably better. Best part is that most people/companies want more or less the same thing, so you’ll just copy past the same line of code, change the visuals, colors and little bit of functionality and you’re done).

[@chrispanov8167]

stonks

[@kalakaritasansar9636]

Are you doing it alone and in which engine and which language?

[@Shenanigans07]

@@kalakaritasansar9636 C++, it's my own engine. I did try and use Unity engine but I didn't like the GC. I needed better memory control. Looking at how much Unity has progressed over the past three years, I wish I had stuck with it. I would have had five times as much work done on the actual game.

[@kalakaritasansar9636]

@@Shenanigans07 umm great! Can I learn C# and make games only with it in unity?

[@nickpavloff8977]

Lots of respect for ”Shovel night “ . Even NES cart copy’s out there made. Too cool

[@aodfr]

It all depends if your game is for profit then the minimum cost is $100 + (how much trade marking costs) if you worked for free and did everything yourself and worked full time.

[@bruhbro]

7:00 even the narrator had to pause for a second

[@21leowheeler]

Am I out of touch or is 10 grand a month not exactly a "Conservative number" regardless of where you live.

[@michaeldamon3603]

Seriously, what small time indie developer makes $120K a year during development?! WTF Thats almost a quarter million for a two year job...what kind of ridiculous estimate is that

[@randomuser37383]

Thats the cost for hiring the developer (a company also pays taxes on what they give you. And you pay taxes on what you receive) and not what the developer receives. Dont know where you live, but in Belgium a company pays roughly half that to the state. That means a developer would earn like 5k before taxes. Still a lot, though

[@21leowheeler]

@@randomuser37383 source ? from what i know people in those earning brackets pay less taxes i could be wrong but in general No one pays 50 % in taxes , the most absurd thing ive ever heard is Americans who make over 10 mil a year pay 33 % ( i think comedian bill burr was talking about it he is of course self employed and pays all his taxes himself )

[@duscodick]

leo wheeler In Canada at $220,000 you are paying 53% of your income to taxes. In America it is highly dependent on where you live but Federal income taxes alone are about 30%. To pay lower you need some funny accounting business to write off expenses to lower the taxable income.

[@21leowheeler]

@@duscodick well how much is it at 90 k in Canada, its assumed to be a 90 / 30 split for 10 k a month ( 25% of which goes to taxes) in any event guys look up where the guys who made the game are from and check it out if you want specific details, please show me that Canadian 53% source, on one hand free health care, in the other sounds fishy honestly, even the goddam mafia doesn't take half, unless it's super forgiving on the lower bracket, esp people who make 30 ish k

[@omgray]

This was more discouraging to me than encouraging. It costs too much to make a game and I simply don’t have the money, even though I do have the drive to continue learning unity.

[@PrimarchRoboleonFrenchyman]

There a lot of job with unity, so it's always good

[@coryjamesmoonfall1602]

It's annoying that the Devs of Brigador stated their game is $20 dollars because of the time they put into it. That's not how any of this works. A game is only worth what people will pay for it. that's the end.

[@coolminer1231]

Before you watch the video I’m just gonna say to make a game it pretty cheap as far as money goes, it cost no more than what the hardware your making it on costs. What it does cost though is a lot of time, if you wanna make something good it will take at the bare minimum months

[@masoodomer4110]

My dream is to make best mmorpg with so much action and no pay to win

[@nyn2k259]

You know a next video you guys should make is about Game Fees and Taxes thanks.

[@mccheong7288]

@Leocesar3D In reality the net worth can be lower than "Gross revenue / 2". Example, my country have no tax treaty will US. Therefore If I sell my game on Steam. I only get 40% of the gross as Steam take 30% and the US government tax another 30%. On top of that I may have to pay tax to my own country.

[@NoelJasik]

Depends for some it will be cost of daily supply of ramen for few weeks and for some quite a huge amount of money

[@prokmordhau]

If you make every asset of your future game yourself, it can only cost time.

[@welton.king.v]

as a student who makes games alone all my games have costed me less than $300 to produce and each one has paid for itself and then some - granted, my games might be shit though.. 👀

[@Minya40]

You need to factor in your work hours. If you do, the actual cost will be much higher. Your time is limited and valuable.

[@welton.king.v]

@@Minya40 you must have me confused for someone who's actually worth something *cries*

[@MaruskaStarshaya]

yeah and your dad and mom fed you all the time - very cheap :D

[@LightVelox]

@@Minya40 i remember working for like 1 year and getting a payday 2 key, i thought it was worth cause i never got paid before and didnt think time was valuable

[@Link-Drako]

They cost nothing if you are willing to learn the different skills needed. Everything you might need to build a game can be found for free in todays market. Some limitations will apply obviously, but you can make a working game title in 1hr with a bit of research and study.

[@AndrewFM.Official]

Free is a possibility as blender and Unreal Engine 4 are a thing, for those of you who dont know UE4 was created by epic games who makes fortnite and its a free game engine software. Dont know how to code, UE4 has blueprints which is visual scripting, just connect the blocks. Blender is a free open source 3D Modeling/Sculpting/2D Animation/Video FX and Video Editing software all in one...Ur welcome :)

[@slowster2945]

Ain't nothing more sure than a gamer who doesn't gamedev undervaluing an indie game.

[@devilmayclarify666]

As a developer myself... I was thinking the opposite. The value of a game is what the market makes it. Devs can't get too entitled or they become out of tune with the UX.

[@MajkaSrajka]

​@@devilmayclarify666 Commies thinking work = money kek (I know that there is also a living thing in here but 13$/h is slightly above substantial level too) Money = Auctionhouse. If someone has better (or similiar) product for cheaper - it will sell and you wont. Your game may not sell only because you overpriced the game because your calculations about number of copies sold were off - or simply because corporations that both guarantee steady paycheck but also eat all the profits operate based off Expected Value (average) and not at-worst-I-need-to-live principle which means they can be more deciseful with their pricing.

[@billionaire_wisdom]

Currently you need 0$ to make a hit indie game..just passion,commitment ,ambition and hard work ..with gaming engines going open source no real budget is needed

[@ralphwarom2514]

5 years working on a single game. I can barely imagine it.

[@Jaybiooh]

Go insane, maybe broke and a slight chance of success. Sounds great!

[@youneskasdi]

i doubt that

[@KotCR]

Anybody criticising opportunity cost ought to actually try working for a poorly paid job. Seriously. You'll realise it's incredibly relevant. I literally have to use it to establish every aspect of my life. For example, do I get the bus? How long would it take walking there? Would the time I save from getting to work by bus instead of walking be enough to pay for the cost of the bus? If not, then I don't catch the bus. I have to think about things like that all the time - and it's because I do that despite earning less than some of the people I work with, I'm often in a better financial situation than they are (despite in many cases actually having alot more financial responsibilities than they do). Because I'm more careful and consider the opportunity cost in everything I do. It really does make a difference. It's also why when I used to work in the healthcare industry, I'd often refuse to work certain special holidays (I had no choice if I was rota'd in on contract then anyway, but if it was optional overtime? Nah), because the place was too far away to walk, the bus didn't run on those days (at least not at the hours required for the job), and the inflated taxi prices for that day to get to and from work would basically cost me the entire day's wage anyway. Meaning I'd basically be working for nothing. Wasn't as simple as "you're working an extra day so you'll get more money" as some of my privileged bosses would see it. This was an opportunity cost issue too.

[@noellekkar903]

I am making a game for free on Unity , I am doing everything. The music, animation, idea and mechanisms, everything is done by me on Unity free

[@David-ux9pl]

doing everything by yourself can is challenge, set still, you'll need to spend money on publishing (and marketing?), gl

[@MrWoopii]

Started making indie game, went broke. Need to find a job now.

[@aliyutube]

how are you now?

[@dylanr4854]

How’s it going now

[@MrWoopii]

@@dylanr4854 doing odd jobs here and there, but nothing in game development.

[@mdo]

@@MrWoopii many indies I know have a normal day job and work on their games in evenings/weekends. That way they don't risk their financial wellbeing while still being able to follow their passion project to completion. It takes much longer to complete but at least you're still sane and with a roof over your head at the end of it.

[@Fireflower20002]

So what is the money actually used for?

[@lakuronekobaka3951]

guess i'll have a small job to keep me up during the dev of my 1st game

[@winterfallstudios7101]

I'm working on games on a zero dollar budget but you'll be able to donate on itch but you won't need to. The game after that is going to cost about 1$. If I make money from that I'll get a small budget. On a bigger budget I'll be able to sell games for more and maybe I'll get a bigger budget.

[@mrcyberpunk]

You've got the right idea. The smaller the budget the higher likelyhood of financial success as the break even point is lower. Unfortunately not every game has the luxury of having such low budgets.

[@bongobliss5795]

Dont sell it at 1, make it a 1.99 , nowadays ppl might think its a faulty game or incomplete and would rather skip it, espicially if the dev himself doesnt appreciate it

[@winterfallstudios7101]

@@bongobliss5795 ok

[@lebaquette]

There is a finnish racing game that is complex af. It is developed by 1 dev and so far as i know, the budget wasn't too big.

[@RandomUserName92840]

Fist time hearing of where the water tastes like wine. Looks cool.

[@TheMonyarm]

Basically this is telling me that as a Bulgarian i'll never have enough money. Before covid i worked at a large company as a full-time programmer, i made 1000 lev a month (after tax), which comes out to 600$ a month (after tax), and after you consider rent, bills, utility, food, I basically break even.

[@bogzbiny]

These numbers are always blown up. You can just start out as a hobbyist (which shouldn't be hard since you are a programmer) and start creating a game. If you only use open source or free software, the only real cost you have to look out for is marketing.

[@omerfarukbykl6097]

how to make a game design document?

[@youOnlyGamesOnce]

Let's make a indie game, oh yeah first thing, I demand 5000€ / month.

[@OLDJACKSACADEMY]

great video keep up the fantastic work

[@GorgonPalace]

I work on two games (FPS + browser game) with my teams - all freelancers I have to pay (7 people). I don't have anything except my rent. All money go to freelancers and projects. One game is 9 years in development, other 6 months. When you are smart, you can do it for fraction of costs with very high quality. I saw only two games in video and the costs are insane. You have to outsource..

[@cr7fanclub747]

What's ur situation now? I mean, how is your game doing?

[@arcaderkid8449]

Once again I stand corrected, I lready talked to my nephew's and nieces about game cost, way before you even made this video.

[@xenithmusic3029]

Answer from an actual indie dev: As low as $0 and ¢0

[@inspiron1552]

AngelinaJamie [GD] Thank you.

[@mdo]

that's a lucky one. It can be worse, you could find yourself in debt.

[@abdur1300]

You can makes games with no cost, using Unity free engine and Blender (3D character software).. After saw what Nintendo Switch capable of, I really wanna makes nintendo switch game (fighting game- like Bloody Roar game with console-graphics quality), need a small good solid team.

[@iskamag]

me who’s making small games with no budget but stolen code

[@StephenC555]

Making indie game is like a bet. If you miss, all the investment and time are gone.

[@residentantagonist5352]

I liked the video. I have subscribed. I reserve the right to heckle. One hundred one. One hundred two. And so on. There is no and.

[@Ripcraze]

Cut gross revenue by about 60% and you got the net after cuts and taxes (if you use steam as a main selling platform).

[@OhAzanChannel]

My development cost currently around $1000. At first i only invest on assets. Now, i will only invest on toolkits that will fasten the pipeline and also the knowledge. I believed development cost is nothing compared to marketing cost that far greater than this figure.

[@randomrandom450]

10:54 errhhh, sorry but there's some comment and questions that should just remain unanswered. You feel 20$ is a fair price, obviously some people will wish it was lower, you don't have to defend your price by playing some violon, in the end of the day, do the players want to spend that money in exchange of the game you are selling, that's all there is.

[@RayWrightRayrite]

Very interesting video. I wonder how much it costs to make a hyper-casual mobile game.

[@Quargame]

Near to nothing if you know what youre doing

[@WerrinLotsuvhats]

In the case of brigador or whatever it's called, I don't think that the dev's response to cost issues on steam makes much sense. yeah they sacrificed a lot to make the game, but why should consumers overpay for a game that's not worth the cost just because the devs had a hard time? if the game isn't worth $20 bucks then I say the devs messed up somewhere

[@dimensionalblade2778]

Zun: Yare Yare Daze.

[@shiningsword5306]

What is the cost for staffing themselves??Can anyone explain it to me?Or any examples maybe?

[@PrimarchRoboleonFrenchyman]

That's why 20 buck for an indie game is not high

[@Wylie288]

Cost does not play into price. Value is supply and demand. Cost simply determines profit margin.

[@MajkaSrajka]

​@@Wylie288 Yup. Just like I don't expect them to give me back 10$ if they sell 100.000 copies (or 15$ if they sell 200.000 copies) they shoudn't expect me to pay 20$ for it because they (project to) sell only 50.000 copies. I fully appriciate his logic but sometimes you can make more money by selling your game cheaper too (by selling more copies) so in fact they may have been right. Additionally you can sell expansion packs that have lower costs and still decent profits (5$ DLC to 10$ game instead of 15$ game etc.). And at the end of the day its still somewhat random (or rather - somewhat speculative - that is in truest way of the of the sense of this word) so market often works based on Expected Value (average income) rather than some kind of low-estaminate calculations.

[@Wylie288]

@@MajkaSrajka Value is value. You make the most money by selling games at their actual value. And they deserve every penny. As would you with any product you sold. And for AAA titles that is well above $60. Lowering will not increase profits. And $60 means lower profits than they deserve. Hence why DLC is cut content. They aren't stupid. You can either be in denial about be a greedy hypocrite. Or you can admit it. But that won't change what you are.

[@masterlinktm]

@@Wylie288 "Value is value. You make the most money by selling games at their actual value." Just because Triple A titles like to overproduce and overpay doesn't mean the cost of production is their value. You clearly understand nothing about how selling products work. To properly price something, you need far more than what it cost to produce. If I produce a widget at $1 and sell it at $5, but all the other similar widgets are sold at $20, no one will buy my widget because it will be viewed as cheap garbage, regardless of actual quality. The customer decides the value of products not the seller.

[@Wylie288]

@@masterlinktm Learn to read. Im the one that taught you production cost isn't value jackass.

At Humble for 7400 units that profit seem to be in line with Steam. Is that in the normal store not bundle? Or do Humble Bundle pay full price for the game? It's been bundled there and it seem weird it would have generated as much profit. Is it monthly + store purchases? Was the 49k in advance payment payment for getting it into Monthly? Nice they made 10 times the cost back.

[@ISAIAH.R99]

Why did the first developers shown have to pay for their own labor? Where would that money even go? Last time I checked you can create in engines for free. Unless I just don't know enough about the industry? Feedback please.

[@Nikhil-Tomar]

"Failure is the mother of success"

[@Gerqaog]

10k $ per staff ? how ?

[@nyn2k259]

Nice video, I want to make games to but sigh... time 12:09 etc break down of why the game is $20. Having to give half of tht money back in fees & taxes is Freaking Crazy thts to high how will they be able to fund a new game or build a studio this is crazy.

[@arandomuser9972]

While Amazon is out here paying $0 taxes.

[@coprographia]

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine ‘suffered from a host of issues’ including being called *fucking Where the Water Tastes Like Wine*

[@adamwallwork6120]

Could you do a straight up programming series?

[@Erbmon]

I dunno about brigador aproax, thinking that potential buyers will give a shit about how much it cost to make the game is naive. They talk about the oportunity cost of making a game to users, but users also have the oportunity cost of buying your game insted of for example geting hammered whit friends, buying another game, seeing 2 movies, etc...

[@DimitarUzunov1412]

I remember trying "Where the water tastes like wine" at AMAZE Berlin 2 years ago. Although the art is fantastic, it felt kinda boring just like the game "Everything" which was also showcased then

[@MaruskaStarshaya]

making your game for longer period shouldn't be the reason to price growth: you can spend even 10 years and so what? You should consider a reasonable development time and cease unreasonable expenses (such as own game engine)

[@capnam_12]

I have a question... What price should games be sold at? I have made a game with RPG Maker MV and I don't know what price I should sell it at. Does anyone know? Thanks in advance

[@jack91al]

It really should depend on how valuable do you think your game is. Does it feature the default tilesets from MV or did you made your own? What about the music or the duration of your game? There are a lot of things that you can see to know how much your game might be worth. But one thing that might work is asking yourself if you would pay $X for your game if it wasn't made by you.

[@capnam_12]

@@jack91al Wow thank you for this useful information I really needed a way to find a price for my new game. Thank you so much!

[@jack91al]

@@capnam_12 np. Try looking out for similar games to yours in the steam store and see how much they cost. That way, you could have a better idea on the price too.

[@capnam_12]

@@jack91al thats very much appreciated. Thank you very much!

[@MajkaSrajka]

Yup, check out the copetition thats how all pricing is done.

[@remon563]

A developer that makes 10k (or even 5k) a month ? That is stretching it big time. You could hire atleast 2x pro devs working remotely. I understand on-site is more effective, and expensive, but it definitely isn't a requisite, especially for an indie game.

[@margaritachuvashova7884]

Lol that Brigador bullshit... "it took us 5 years blah blah" Come on the products value is in the eyes of the buyer. Not the seller. The world doesn't care how much efforts and resources you spent. Deal with it or get out from the business. Nobody was forcing them to create everything from scratch, at the end of the day

[@sleeplessgr111]

My first game cost me 25€ for Google play developer account and a friend

[@ToonymanStudios]

What I like to know is why do video games cost the same or more as a digital download than actual disk? It just don't seem like a fair price considering there just virtual copies!

[@ct2651]

Ask the reseller that pressure the platform holder saying, we wont sell your hardware.

[@alecubudulecu]

Too bad shovel knight dev team ended up never getting paid at all.

[@nicholasxee9597]

Great video

[@amiranwar6150]

Please help my Godot doesnt work it says graphics drivers error something like this .😥

[@igorthelight]

What videocard do you have?

[@MyCarllee]

2:00 250 and 140 pounds per day for living? I'm glad I live in China. I can live extravagantly in Chongqing for just 17 pounds per day. If I choose to live in the country side, or live at my parents' home, the cost could be as low as 6 pounds per day. When I calculate my budget, I included things like food, transport, subscriptions, utilities.

[@roberttiganetea1386]

Yeah but you still live in China.

[@brodriguez11000]

@@roberttiganetea1386: And now one understands Globalism and Digital Goods.

[@MajkaSrajka]

Move to Poland. Its cheaper lol (10$ student here!)